At the time of writing (end of Jan 2026), gold has surpassed all-time highs of $5000 an ounce, and silver has surged astronomically to over $100 and ounce, but what about Bitcoin (BTC)?
Bitcoin currently sits at around $88,000 per Bitcoin, and it’s clearly not yet taking part in the push to the upside.
Is Bitcoin a sleeping giant? If so, why and when should we get ready for its awakening?
In this article, we look at just that and more.
Here goes…
Only 1 Million Bitcoins Left
The one important thing to remember about Bitcoin is that it’s scarce.
In practice, that means there are only 21 million Bitcoins that are able to be created (or mined), ever.
21 million may sound like a lot, but we need to take into account that around 20 million Bitcoins have already been mined.
That leaves around 1 million Bitcoin left available to add to the supply.
This digital restriction is built into Bitcoin’s code and cannot be changed.
Unlike gold, silver or other precious metals, additional assets cannot simply be extracted from the ground to increase the supply.
In real terms, this makes Bitcoin extremely rare.
If you want to know more about Bitcoin, read this article here:
Bitcoin’s Availability to Buy
As discussed already, 20 million Bitcoins have already been mined. With only 1 million left available to add to the supply.
The limit is deliberate and is designed to make Bitcoin deflationary, meaning that unlike fiat currencies, more cannot be printed to increase supply and artificially inflate.
The 1 million Bitcoins left are estimated to be extracted by the year 2140, and after that, no new Bitcoins will ever be created.
2140 may seem way off, but we need to take into account other factors that make the situation particularly interesting:
The algorithm
Due to Bitcoin’s mining algorithm, the amount of Bitcoin available to mine each year is slowing.
Approximately every four years, the reward given to miners for extracting Bitcoin is halved (The Halving). This means that as time progresses, new Bitcoins entering the supply become even rarer.
Permanent loss
In addition, a significant quantity of Bitcoin is unavailable due to lost private keys and inaccessible wallets. Estimates run at around 2-4 million Bitcoins have been lost forever.
That’s a whopping 20% of the supply lost permanently.
Potential Effects of Bitcoin’s Scarcity
Recently, we’ve seen silver surge to historic all-time highs, and in line with that, stocks of the asset have been in short supply.
Investors looking to buy silver are finding that the metal is often out of stock, and even when available, the price has increased premiums attached.
Gold is likely to see similar shortages as the price heads higher.
The problem for entrepreneurs and investors is that when the price surges and all the signals are screaming ‘buy’, there is often no availability, or the price is too high due to premiums.
All this, despite the fact that the supplies of gold and silver are not inherently capped and that more can be mined from the ground, albeit it can take some time to reach above-ground reserves.
What could these effects have on Bitcoin?
Gold and Silver Are Rallying – What It Means for Bitcoin
As silver and gold rally, the reasons can be related to a number of factors; supply shortages, a lack of confidence in traditional financial systems, economic uncertainty, macro events such as fear of wars, etc.
Silver, and in particular, gold are often seen as ‘safe havens’ , a way to protect your money from the ravages of inflation and macroeconomic events.
Although the argument for Bitcoin has been similar, eg, a ‘store of value’ or “digital gold”, the correlation between gold and Bitcoin does not always align.
Bitcoin does potentially have some capacity to protect investors from inflationary pressures, although the volatility of Bitcoin is hard for many to stomach. It is not unheard of for Bitcoin to plunge 60-90% sometimes overnight.
With that in mind, Bitcoin comes with the added advantage of significant yields should market demand turn to Bitcoin. Astronomical surges upwards of 42% in one day have been seen in the past.
The question is, what would happen if Bitcoin were to suddenly see a surge in demand?
Taking into account that there is a limit to how much Bitcoin can be mined and its scarcity, the price could see similar, if not greater price action than seen recently with its physical counterparts, gold and silver.
In addition, if precious metals were to continue to rise, the availability of metals may be in short supply, or the price may simply become too high for many smaller investors to consider.
In that scenario, many may consider Bitcoin as an alternative to unavailable or pricey physical metals.
If that were to happen, all bets would be off, and Bitcoin could become hard to come by, and the price could skyrocket.
What Entrepreneurs Must Know
Paper Markets, ETFs and Derivatives Issue
The shared similarity
Bitcoin, gold and silver do have something in common that entrepreneurs should not ignore.
That is, their prices can be heavily ‘influenced’ by paper versions of the asset that can be traded far more easily than the real asset itself.
Many may read ‘influenced’ as manipulated, but that’s a whole other article!
As such, what we are seeing with gold and silver is the breakdown of the paper markets over the real physical markets.
The ‘paper’ versions of the assets can no longer ‘influence’ the price of the real asset, and as a result, the price can boom.
Bitcoin recently had large inflows of ETF (Exchange Traded Funds), and paper derivatives.
Some ETFs are spot ETFs and require actual Bitcoin to be held as the underlying asset, while Futures ETFs do not.
This makes it easy for large traders to sell paper instruments, which in turn can push the price down or cool off rallies. The ETFs essentially absorb demand and take away buying pressure from the real coins.
The good news for Bitcoin is that the price cannot be ‘influenced’ forever.
Real Bitcoin can be moved around almost instantaneously, so if too much ‘paper’ Bitcoin exists, the system will break when people demand real coins.
If this happens, in addition to the scarcity mentioned in this article, the price of Bitcoin could go parabolic, leading to a price discovery phase similar to or even greater than what we are seeing now with the metals.
What to choose, Bitcoin, gold or silver?
Entrepreneurs should understand that it is not a binary decision whether to consider precious metals or Bitcoin.
Gold and silver are thousands of years old and offer stability and a hedge against inflation. Until recently, the price action was limited.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, is only 16 years old and has the downside of volatility, but also has the advantage of huge upside should market sentiment change.
Therefore, it would be wise to consider both precious metals and Bitcoin.
A combination of gold, silver and Bitcoin could offer protection in uncertain economic times and also offer the opportunity for significant returns via Bitcoin should market sentiment shift.
Owning real Bitcoin and not ‘paper’ derivatives should be the goal.
Read this article on why entrepreneurs should consider Bitcoin, gold and silver:
Of course, entrepreneurs should be careful not to go ‘all in’ on any investment and not risk more than they can afford to lose.
Read this article on how not to lose everything investing in crypto:
Final Thoughts
Savvy entrepreneurs would be wise to take into consideration the scarcity of Bitcoin.
While silver and gold continue to rally, reaching all-time highs, it’s easy to form the impression that Bitcoin is being ‘left behind’.
However, although Bitcoin’s ‘digital gold’ narrative does not correlate exactly, it does have something in common with the metals; that is, the potential ‘influence’ of ETFs and paper derivatives.
These ‘paper’ instruments make it much easier for large traders to ‘influence’ the price action and rallies of an asset without actually owning the asset itself.
The price movement we are seeing in the metals can be attributed to shortages, the economic climate and other concerns mentioned, but most importantly, the ‘paper’ market for these assets is breaking down. People want their physical metals.
If something similar happens with Bitcoin, all bets could be off, and the price could go parabolic overnight as repricing occurs and a ‘genuine’ price equilibrium is reached.
Combined with the aforementioned scarcity of Bitcoin, we have a very volatile mix.
Of course, entrepreneurs should be careful not to go ‘all in’ on these trends; the price of all investments, especially Bitcoin, can plunge dramatically, sometimes overnight. Be careful.
Forward-looking entrepreneurs would be wise to consider Bitcoin, gold and silver to protect themselves against future economic uncertainty.
Good luck!
***Disclaimer: This article is not financial advice and is given for informational and entertainment purposes only. Readers should conduct their own research and not invest more than they can afford to lose. Crypto is extremely volatile, and as such can drop in value considerably without notice. Pop Up World has a global presence and is not specifically targeting any jurisdiction with its content. Any crypto references are not intended for UK businesses or consumers. You should always seek legal advice to understand if the use or investment in crypto is allowed in your jurisdiction.
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***Disclaimer: This article is not financial advice and is given for informational and entertainment purposes only. Readers should conduct their own research and not invest more than they can afford to lose. Crypto is extremely volatile, and as such can drop in value considerably without notice. Pop Up World has a global presence and is not specifically targeting any jurisdiction with its content. Any crypto references are not intended for UK businesses or consumers. You should always seek legal advice to understand if the use or investment in crypto is allowed in your jurisdiction.
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